AFO Cerberus
by Petty Officer First Class Boo
Summary: Advanced Force Operations Cerberus was a joint international special operations command left in the Middle-East after NATO had pulled out of Afghanistan. Join Fire Team Viper and the remaining forces in tracking down a third-party organisation funding insurgents for strikes against the world. It is set five years after Medal of Honor: Warfighter.


AFO Cerberus

A pop of air. The whistling of a falling object. One loud explosion. Dust being thrown about the area as the armed round of a grenade launched from a rifle. While in the blazing heat, men drowned in their own sweat enough to fill buckets. Hot, humid and full of threats, this was Afghanistan. Three years after NATO pulled out with a small detachment force left to train Afghan Army soldiers and Commandos, the enemy were still coming at them relentlessly.

Men of Alpha Platoon, Alpha Section, Fire Team Viper sat crouched behind a low wall suppressed by an outnumbering amount of enemies. Part of Advanced Force Operations Cerberus, these men were no stranger to being outmanned and outgunned, let alone combat. They were part of a joint Special Forces Group tasked with taking the fight to the enemy.

And take the fight to them they did.

"Bones!" one of the four soldiers screamed, "we're being bloody suppressed!"

"I can see that Stonebridge!" the fireteam leader screamed back as he rolled his body ever so slightly to pop up above the mud wall. Bullets struck the barricade with a puff of dust while the others zipped right above and around his head. They were so close, he could feel the round's heat prickling against his skin.

"Now how the fuck did we get into this situation?!" another screamed.

"Kandahar this is Fireteam Viper, we are pinned down Southeast Qalat. I repeat pinned down Southeast of Qalat. Requesting fire mission, over!" an Australian voice slowly and clearly spoke into the radiophone pressed against his ear.

Bones, the team's squad leader, propped up his HK416 against the mud wall and squeezed the trigger. He fired in slow and aimed shots to conserve ammunition. They had been pinned down for over an hour with ammunition supplies running extremely low. Sergeant Stonebridge, the team's 2IC (2nd in Command) lifted up his C8 rifle and picked up the slack in the fire. If they didn't get the support they needed, they'll risk getting captured.

"Grimes!" Bones yelled, "where the fuck is that support?!"

"M-triple-sevens are cocked up for the time, mate!" the radio operator screamed back.

"Geoff, ammo check!" Bones ordered as another round pinged off metal debris from a destroyed Humvee wrecked not too long ago.

"Two boxes of five-five-six left!" the Army Ranger replied, firing off another burst.

The enemies were firing at them from a couple hundred meters away across an open, harvested opium field. Houses and mud huts flanked their left and right in a U shape giving the enemy perfect vantage and ambush points. Behind them were just more open fields that were ripe for farmlands. One single road ran across Qalat, it was the main supply road for all the Northern bases until NATO withdrew. MSR Mozart was now just a barren piece of smoothed dirt that ran north and southward. Nothing ever comes and goes anymore except for the local people and the insurgents.

Bones had to do something.

And fast.

"Geoff, give me suppressing fire on my go. Stonebridge, you're with me," Bones quickly ordered.

"Wait, what's the plan?" Stonebridge asked glancing from his C8's optics.

"There is no plan. Kill them before they kill us, or die trying."

"Great plan mate. I'd thought the blokes at Team Six would have taught you something," Stonebridge quipped, firing another round into the similar looking houses in front of them.

"I'm going to show you Brits what shock and awe is," Bones grunted as he readied himself to run towards the beginning of the complexes a dozen or so meters away, "...ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be mate," Stonebridge replied with a slight shrug.

Bones got up to one knee, his back still hunched over to stay behind the wall. Bullets still grazed the walls and ricocheted around him as he did. The firing slowed. The enemy knew that they were wasting ammo way too fast. Men were probably running ammunition to the gunners or they were just reloading, maybe even stopping to fire as the barrel heated up enough to melt off of the guns themselves.

Whatever it was, Bones was not about to find out.

"Grimes, Geoff, covering fire!" Bones ordered.

"Covering fire!" Geoff screamed once more so the order was heard.

Bones stood up and flicked the fire selector to fully automatic. He squeezed the trigger, feeling the rifle recoil into his shoulder while Stonebridge ran behind him. Firing in bursts, Bones controlled the weapon with ease as the British operator sprinting towards cover nearby. The roar of the M249 filled the entire village with lethal pieces of metal. It was savage, visceral and raw. Amidst the rapid staccato of the machine gun, enemy fire came towards them at the opposite direction albeit at a much slower rate.

Just as Bones's HK416 clicked empty, he heard Stonebridge scream for him, "I'm here! Covering!"

The SEAL quickly did a tactical reload before dropping his rifle and bolting towards the house wall Stonebridge was hiding behind. At the rate Geoff was firing, he knew that the box magazine would be empty within seconds and he needed to get into cover before that happened. By his feet, Bones could feel the bullets peppering the ground beside him. Dirt kicked up from the ground and sprayed his pants with pebbles and debris. Adrenaline course through him as his vision tunneled on the wall and Stonebridge. He could see nothing but the tall, brown mud cover.

Before he knew it, he felt his shoulder smack into the object with a loud thump.

"Fucking took you long enough," Stonebridge said as he ducked back behind the wall to reload, "too many donuts on patrol, Yank?"

"I'm not a cop...Stonebridge," Bones said, panting, "you ready?"

Stonebridge simply gave him a nod.

"Alright," Bones said, readying his rifle.

The SEAL slowly turned the corner, his rifle up and pointed at anything that needed to be put into the ground. Cautiously, Bones cut the pie with his rifle and scanned the different angles before stepping into what looked like another long alleyway leading towards the center of town. Their mission was a simple operation to extract intelligence from a nearby Taliban cell. Go into the house, find the the computer room and return with the information. So far, their intel had gotten them stuck in an ambush. The intelligence guys sure dropped the ball on this one.

"Bones," came a short transmission over Bones's headset.

"Bones here, go ahead," he quickly replied into the throat mic strapped to his neck.

"I've got a fire mission here from Kandahar," Grimes reported, "should make our lives a bit easier. I'll patch the transmission through to our squad comms so we have SA."

"Go for it Grimes," Bones whispered a reply.

Bones held up a fist, stopping Stonebridge cold in his tracks. Just in front of Bones was another street to his left and right, running right through their path. The SEAL waved his British counterpart to the adjacent wall as he turned to his right. Both of their eyes meet. Bones gave a short nod as both men stepped out from the corners. The two checked the street opposite to them before turning around. Bones saw nothing but debris and spent bullet casings. The enemy must have been here before.

"Clear," Stonebridge reported.

Just as Bones was about to reply, a shape ran out from one of the houses. Garbed in a dusty brown robe and an old jungle pattern jacket, the Taliban fighter had an RPK machine gun strapped over his body. The boy looked no older than twenty one. His hands hurriedly fumbled with the magazine of the weapon as he tried to eject the current cartridge for a fresh new one.

Bones froze.

He did not want to end this boy's life. For all he knew, the young man could have been ordered or forced to fight for them. His mother would surely be there to mourn for her son's death and their family would be angered enough to swear the death of all foreign soldiers. It was already hard enough with IEDs in the ground, the coalition didn't need more people hating them. Bones's dreaded moment turned to reality as the boy looked down the alley.

His mouth opened to shout.

The trigger depressed twice. Two bullets shot out of the HK416's barrel with a loud cough, the suppressor was doing it's job. Bones saw the boy shake violently while a pool of blood expanded from the center of his chest. One hole directly on his forehead started filling with red liquid dripping down his face. His legs gave, the young man dropped to his knees before collapsing on the ground but not before an accidental misfire. A nerve in his brain twitched and made his finger pull the RPK's trigger.

One loud bang resonated across the quiet quarter of the town.

"Tango down," Bones reported as he heard shouting nearby.

"Apparently the Tango has friends," Stonebridge said from behind him, "lets see what these blokes can do."

"Viper to Kandahar," Grimes spoke on the comms, "fire mission Southeast of Qalat. I need four rounds of HE in rotations of four over grid coordinates two-five-six, eight-five-three, six-zero-six, fire for effect how copy?"

The shouting started to get louder. Footsteps falling upon hard dirt could be heard within the distance. The atmospherics got bad real fast. Just as Bones was about to get up off of his knee, two men exited one of the houses where the young man came from. Gripped around their hands were two rusty AK-47s.

"Contact!" Bones yelled to grab Stonebridge's attention. He squeezed the trigger to fire off a shot. The HK416 fired two bullets before firing an empty click. Bones rolled his rifle over and glanced into the firing chamber. The partially closed chamber was exposing the misfed round. Why he bothered with the normal military magazines Bones didn't know. All the standard issue things had jammed on him countless times before. Maybe it was a sign to change equipment.

"Jam!" Bones screamed and ducked behind the corner.

"You fucking serious mate?!" Stonebridge exclaimed in frustration.

Bones ejected the magazine, pulling back the charging handle to see the two bullets drop from the rifle. The SEAL grabbed a PMag from his vest and slapped the fresh magazine in. He did a quick mental ammo check before standing back up. Four more magazines left from the combined twenty five he brought with his assault pack earlier in the day. Bones stepped out from the corner to see the two men now dead on the ground, their bodies full of bullet holes plus another aggressor that stepped in while he was clearing the jam.

Upon hearing the gunfire, more fighters streamed in from the surrounding area. This time, men armed with RPKs, PKMs and RPGs were running amok from house to house in disarray trying to find the unknown enemy. Man after man walked through the same street, only to be gunned down by Bones and Stonebridge. Just after a short pause after what seemed like an eternity and five dead men later, a whizz zipped right by Bones's ear.

The shot came from behind him.

"To our six!" Stonebridge screamed. He heard the British SAS trooper fire once before his rifle clicked empty. The Sergeant cursed as he ducked behind cover, "fuck! Reloading!"

"Covering!" Bones replied and picked up the slack in the fire. If the howitzer rounds weren't in the air by now, the two were going to get surrounded and captured. Another bullet zipped right by Bones's ear as Stonebridge fired in the opposite direction. The two fired into each other despite the heavy incoming fire. Bones felt something hot zing his neck, the heat of a deflected bullet as dirt sprayed his left shoulder and face.

"Four rounds HE, rot four, 256 853 606. Fire for effect," Bones heard the radio spark to life once again amidst the confusing firefight.

"Readback correct!" Grimes yelled as gunfire zipped and pinged in the background.

"Rounds out," the voice on the radio said one final time.

"Stonebridge!" Bones yelled.

"I know!" he replied, understanding what the SEAL was trying to convey.

Another zip from a bullet. This time, Bones felt something hot against his cheek. A warm liquid was trickling down towards the corner of his mouth. He looked left and down the road to see more fighters. The pair got up and started to retreat back the way the came. Firing off his magazine, Bones didn't have time to reload. He reached towards his chest and pulled out his SIG P2022 from its holster. His right arm was outstretched, firing the pistol one handed while his left fumbled to reload the rifle.

"Where the fuck do these guys keep coming from?!" Bones screamed in exasperation.

"Don't know mate!" Stonebridge replied, also switching to his sidearm as the rifle clicked empty, "but I'd bet two beers that I'd drop more than you!"

Bones's pistol slide flew back with a clack. The SEAL holstered the weapon before drawing his rifle and racking the charging handle. He glanced over to the British soldier and said, "you're on."

"Rounds complete."

The first howitzer round landed without warning. One huge shockwave blasted into Bones, almost knocking him off his feet. Dirt exploded from the left side of the village blanketing the pair in a mist of brown. Another shell impacted the area where the enemy was firing from.

Bones's vision went black.

The sound of his heartbeat pounded against the inside of his chest. He knew that he was still alive, but for how long? Color started to form again, although a bit blurry. The ground shook as if the next apocalypse was upon him. Bones turned over and pushed himself off the dirt before shaking his head to see Stonebridge doing the same. Another tremor shook the Earth as the shell exploded a bit further away.

"Fuck this mate," Stonebridge said, calling off the bet, "I'm getting the bloody hell outta 'ere before things go tits up!"

"Well? Book it!" Bones yelled as the final shells fell on the Earth.

Bones and Stonebridge sprinted down the street and away from the center of town. The pair slowed their pace as the shells stopped raining down on them. Bones glanced back to see a dirt smog that covered most of the town like a cloud of death. Whatever was inside that shockwave when the shell hit either died, or was deep enough below ground to survive the hit. If the enemy wasn't out of the network of tunnels, they would be buried alive. Both Bones and Stonebridge jogged out of the town to meet up with Geoff and Grimes. Upon seeing the two men exit the U shaped town, Grimes waved at them from a prone position.

"Bones!" Grimes yelled breaking the silence, "how was that fire mission mate?"

"Too effective Grimes, way too effective," Bones said panting.

"You're bleeding," Geoff said, pointing out the wound on Bones's cheek.

"Ah, bullet grazed my face. It's not too bad," the SEAL replied, wiping the blood off with wrist.

"Better treat it before it becomes a rotten bag of yellow and green," Geoff said with a small laugh as he opened up his IFAK bag strapped to his left thigh.

"Stop it before you make me lose my appetite. Wait," Bones said pausing, "I've already lost it."

The Army Ranger dabbed some alcohol soaked cotton over the wound before taping gauze over it to keep dirt out. Bones thanked the Ranger and led the group inside the networked group of houses. Thankfully, the enemy did not show their face to the four men. Fireteam Viper was down to their last weapon stores. Anymore and they would need to pick up enemy weapons and use them.

One compound stood out from the rest. This one was far bigger with an actual metal door thick enough to be of significant value in Afghanistan. Inside, were halls adorned with rugs, comfy chairs and tables. This was the house of a very wealthy town mayor. There were only two ways he got this money, massive opium fields and export or being payed off by the enemy to house their hackers and enemy troopers.

"Stack it up," Bones ordered standing by the complex's entrance. The door was slightly ajar, but the rest of the building seemed untouched by the howitzer shells.

"Cerberus Command, Viper, team is go for search and clear," the radio reported. Bones looked back to see Grimes giving a thumbs-up as the last man in the formation.

"My hazard pay has to go up after this," Bones muttered and gripped the door handle. He felt Stonebridge's C8 barrel resting on his left shoulder.

"After staying with you lot. I'd need to be paid a hundred thousand quid more to work with you blokes again," Stonebridge said with a small laugh.

Bones threw the door open and stepped inside. One by one, the team filled the wide lobby as they scanned for any threats with the muzzle of their rifles. The room looked perfectly fine except for a few pieces of furniture covered by dust. Couches, rugs, a table and even a television adorned the beige walls of the house.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary.

"Clear," Geoff reported.

"No shit Sherlock," Grimes said.

"No one's here," Stonebridge commented as the four lowered their weapons, "they didn't even pack their belongings by the looks of it."

"Nor the food," Bones said pointing to a few plates filled with rotten food on the table, "alright, fan out and try to find the secret hacker den and pull any info you have."

Bones walked away from the group and entered what seemed like a master bedroom. Everything seemed normal as always. He grabbed the dresser handle and yanked the wooden container out from the furniture. Clothes flew in all directions, but there wasn't a single piece of actionable information. Time passed but nothing new showed up as Bones ransacked the entire room. Men and women clothes were scattered all along the white ceramic floor. The SEAL took one more look around before his radio squawked to life, "Bones, I got something."

It was Grimes's voice, "copy. I'm on my way."

Bones walked down the corridor to see three of his other teammates hunched over a small corner. It led nowhere as there was a large wall with some beige standard paint. Upon Bones's arrival, Grimes stood up with his Australian AUG A3 slung across his front.

"Whaddya' got," Bones asked the Australian.

"I reckon that, that there is the entrance to the underground hacker compound. I didn't want to open it out without ya," Grimes replied.

"So generous of you," Bones said with a small sigh, "anything?"

"No signs of booby traps or IEDs on the trapdoor as far as I know mate," Stonebridge replied.

"Geoff," Bones stated and gave the Ranger a nod.

The Ranger simply nodded in response and slung his machine gun around his back. His hands gripped the trapdoor's handle and slowly lifted the cover. Stonebridge went prone right in front of the trapdoor and pulled out his combat knife. The SAS trooper slowly swept his knife around the opening, making sure that he'd catch any wire or trigger. Minutes passed as nothing happened, Stonebridge nodded as Geoff threw open the door. The pair dropped down into the floor below as Grimes and Bones watched over the pair in case a trap went off. Boots scuffled across the stone ground and equipment clanked.

"All clear," Stonebridge called out from below.

"You first," Bones said and gestured for Grimes to go in.

"Courteous as always eh Bones? Let the Aussie die first," Grimes teased before jumping down into the basement.

Bones jumped in right after Grimes and closed the trapdoor behind him. The room he stood in was filled with dirt and thick smog of dust. It was no bigger than a bathroom with two computers and left behind weapons. Shelves were scattered among the room with wires running along the ceilings and walls. It seemed like the enemy was running both internet and satellite lines into these two old and aging computers. Among the debris was a single USB plugged into an old IBM tower.

"Fuck hell," Grimes said coughing, "it's dusty in 'ere!"

"CRT Monitors?" Stonebridge said with a slight scoff, "I haven't seen these bloody things since the early thousands."

"Hey Top," Geoff called, "USB's still plugged into the tower."

"See what's on it, everyone else. Find anything we can use and then burn this place down," Bones ordered as the men nodded.

The four went to different corners around the room. Bones went through the shelf with binders haphazardly shoved into the slots without much caring. All of them were in some sort of Arabic with IP Addresses, passwords, and bank accounts scribbled in. They were probably skimming money off of unsuspecting victims to fund their terrorist schemes. Geoff plugged in a hard drive into the computer and started cloning the computers for all their information so the tech analysts can go through it later. Stonebridge and Grimes dumped out all the boxes containing everything from papers to fake passports. Everything took thirty minutes to an hour to complete. By then, the room looked completely ransacked with the floors covered with papers and all sorts of documents.

"All done?" Bones asked as he pulled out four cylinders from his backpack.

"Yeah," Stonebridge reported.

"Set up thermite on the computers and around the room. String it up stairs for safe detonation," Bones ordered, the other three nodding in response.

Bones pulled out some duct tape and taped the grenades to the metal shelf's support. With some metal wiring, he tied the four pins together and climbed back up the ladder. Together with the other three, Fireteam Viper had wired ten grenades together. It was going to be one big explosion when they closed the trapdoor. The thermite didn't need air to burn and when all the air was consumed inside the room, the air would be sucked in from the outside like a vacuum and possibly blowing up the entire sector of the building together.

"We ready?" Bones asked.

"Yeah mate," Stonebridge handing him the other wires, "there you go. Hit it."

Bones took the other wires and slammed the trapdoor shut with his foot. With a small tug from the wires the said, "fire in the hole."

There was a quiet pop from the detonation of the thermite and before long, one giant whoosh from the incendiary flames as it burned at five thousand degrees celsius. Everything inside the room was melting from the intense heat. Crackles, pops and fizzes were common place as papers, the computers and shelfs melted into a pool of liquid. Fires occasionally flared out from underneath the trapdoor. But for now, everything was good and safe.

"Guys, we should get the fuck out of dodge before the hacker den implodes," Geoff suggested.

"Good idear," Stonebridge said in his British accent.

"You mean idea," Bones quipped.

"Yeah, idear," Stonebridge said again.

"No, you said idear Stonebridge...not idea," Bones said with a cocked eyebrow.

"I'm not teaching you how to speak my own bloody fucking language now am I?" Stonebridge hissed.

But just as Bones was about to continue, Grimes cut him off, "Look mate, I would like to watch this funny ass Yank versus Brit Comedy show but we really get the fuck out of here before that trapdoor becomes a hellfire."

"Fine," Stonebridge grunted before jogging out the building.

The Fireteam exited the building, retreating back to a safe distance. Gathering up at a pick-up point, Bones heard a loud bang as the basement of the house imploded. Air was sucked in through the gaping hole before being thrown back out by the raging fire. It was going to take a while for the flames to die down and water was not going to help put it out. Grimes tossed Bones a small USB stick. The team leader lifted the small device up to his face, turning it around a few times to inspect the data carrier.

This tiny plastic data container carried plans for almost everything in Afghanistan.

It contained information on Operation: Catalyst.


End file.
